Alex today

It’s 8 am and the air conditioner ran all night, and today’s supposed to be worse.

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Buster is easily startled thanks to the construction across the street. We’re trying to be extra nice to him, not that that’s hard.

Here’s a blast from the past (made while I was still working for Planetkiller Enterprises™)

I have lots of thoughts and feelings but I’m going to sit on them until they’re large enough to hatch.

New poem – privilege

but i don’t want to wait through this iteration of this sequence of derangements

i want a room with a door i can shut, a privy i don’t have to clean every day

and the rest is whatever else you want for a socialist paradise

what ho introversion! you give me all my best moments, the times when i can

lovingly and laboriously think about all this stuff before i go offline that last time

now i think, bending and bending toward the ground, of my good fortune

the “lucky bitch” invisibly stamped onto all of my life’s accoutrements 

the way i’ve dodged virtually every responsibility thrust upon me so well

that you would think that i was born to it, a rich saxon baron’s wife, who not once

lacked for bread her whole life, no not though the whole world else were starving

 

Here’s a jpeg of the poem, with better font and blocking

Feasting accomplished

Ordered from Cockney Kings Fish and Chips, watched the latest episode of Westworld, sat on the deck and enjoyed the evening. We hung out until the grand old hour of ten, and Mike declares the 0.0 Heineken beer quite palatable. I got Fat Tugs and drank most of two, so I was plenty plenty last night.

Mike has announced that he’s putting together a skookum gaming computer.

I’m content with the world right now and perhaps I shouldn’t be, but it is a nice feeling to see a friend.

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I get Alex tomorrow afternoon while his brother gets his urology consult. Katie really stayed on top of it, she’s the matriarch now.

Double nickel birthday

Mike’s 55 today. It feels like yesterday that we went to the Dylan concert for his 50th, but nope, five years got out from under us, how amazing.

I’ve got a brief bit of shopping to do for snacckies to do but otherwise we’re just going to bake in the heat on the deck and order out.

Sakurajima erupted yesterday but it has since calmed down somewhat, so that’s good because Japan just can’t catch a break. “The Isle of Cherries” blowing up is kinda mean.

Bulldog Hanover, driven by Dexter Dunn, has set a new world record of 1 minute 46 seconds for a harness racing mile. I just want the names to be Bulldog Hangover and Dexter Diddit. sad

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how about something lighter

  1. United Church is the first denomination in Canada to elect an Indigenous woman as its leader.
  2. Métis from Batoche got some #LandBack
  3. Bear about town becomes bear into bin.
  4. Escaped farm pigs add to BC’s piggish sitch.
  5. Katrina Chen is now co-running David Eby’s leadership campaign. Given how much I’ve been peeing on Eby’s head (at last check Katrina follows me on twitter) this is amusingly embarrassing. Katrina also has a kid in the same school as Alex. hey at least it isn’t private school and Eby’s still superior to many of his cocontenders.
  6. People are very stupid about love. Just thought I’d mention it.
  7. practiced hard on my mandolin Otto, so glad he’s back.
  8. MIKE IS COMING tomorrow. yay. MUST GET TO STORE FOR DE-ALCOHOLIZED BEER.
  9. Mike Parker Pearson has a lot of archaeologists in UK upset (on twitter, what a row) over basically wanting to completely kibosh the tunnel that’s supposed to be DUG UNDER A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE GOOD GOD Y’ALL. Yes indeed. However people like Raksha Dave and Paul Blinkhorn aren’t as upset as all that so it’s definitely interesting AND OF COURSE EVERY TIME THEY DIG there’s archaeology so bizarre they need to take months to check it out…. Anyway it’s a done deal; how much of the diggings will get sieved remains to be seen.
  10. Ben Affleck – demonstrating once more that you have to be in the same room with him to understand his charisma – has managed to marry the evergreen beautiful workaholic known as J-Lo …. I know, I don’t get it either. But I wish them decades of happiness and hope that he can at least keep it in his pants this time.
  11. SHETLAND SERIES 7 TRAILER HAS DROPPED. Yeah!
  12. There’s a street fair walking distance from here, mebbe I’ll go.
  13. Probably I won’t.
  14. Jeff got me brekkie at Foreshore Restaurant yesterday AND I STILL LOVE THEIR SAUSAGE MAN IT’S SO FREAKING GOOD
  15. I think there’s still coffee from yesterday. No peanut butter for me thanks, I’m finally back to not itching as much.
  16. 540 words and I READ THE ENTIRE THING TO mOm YESTERDAY which is terribly ableist of me she needs it in written form but she puts up with me and I love her.
  17. People are still reading my fanfics. Not as much, and never any comments, but it’s nice to know people are still reading.
  18. One little comment from the last time I went walking with Paul. THE ELECTRIC BIKES COMING THROUGH THE TRAILS AT 40 KPH ARE NOT CONSISTENT WITH FRAIL ELDERLY PEOPLE TAKING A CONSTITUTIONAL. I predict that shortly a senior will be injured by a cyclist who WILL UNDOUBTEDLY TAKE OFF AND LEAVE ME THERE.

Otto is home

  1. The floating bridge was only out a sixteenth of an inch. TIGHT TOLERANCES YO.
  2. very nice folks at PlayMusic and efficient too
  3. Jeff very kindly assisted by driving. There are SO MANY BARBEQUE joints along that chunk of Kingsway! Plus the Captain’s Boil.
  4. I’m going to sketch the position of it in with magic marker, I don’t want to go through this again.
  5. Hard to move grain through a port in UK when the Russians keep bombing it. Starvation will stalk the world this winter.
  6. A crow dropped a plastic bag of monopoly houses on Gaston Park yesterday morning AND THAT’S A LITTLE ON THE NOSE FOR POLITICAL COMMENTARY FROM BOIDS, YO
  7. Ate some peanut butter, started sneezing immediately and I am now so itchy me wan die.
  8. 539 words.
  9. I think mebbe I’ve got ‘lurgy from peanuts?
  10. I made paneer from the milk that was going bad. It’s absolutely lovely and I’m looking forward to making spinach paneer with it.
  11. Woke up just after one this am after going to bed rather early (I was tired).
  12. Got up and made coffee and drank it since now that it’s three am it’s obvious I’m not going back to sleep.
  13. Messaged Keith for his opinion on which Don Bluth animated film is best (there was an article). Land Before Time is one of my fave animated kids movies and parts of it are flat out terrifying. I loathed Rockadoodle and All Dogs Go to Heaven; I think An American Tail is one of the funniest and saddest animated films ever. I’ve never seen Anastasia and Secret of NIMH but I hear they’re amazing.
  14. MPX (Monkeypox) is about to be declared a global public health threat by WHO. Should have happened when the global count got to a thousand, and just watch, the response will be even worse than COVID. THANKS NOW I NEED A NEW TOPIC. Marburg is back too but the Ghanaian health authorities have a good team in place and they aren’t sitting on their hands; I have more faith in them and the foreign assistance than the goddamned American and Canadian public health authorities at this point.
  15. Apparently Alzheimers research has been fabricated FOR ALMOST TWO DECADES
  16. When people talk about hating big pharma, reasons like that would apply.
  17. A junior polar bear with a can stuck to her tongue approached humans for help. Russian vets flew 2000 km to help her. Putin’s still bombing UKRAINE tho
  18. SO ITCHY. so itchy.
  19. Jeff’s about to go on ‘rat patrol’ with Buster in the alley. There were two rats yesterday.

accomplished a few things

Keith has his money. There was a little interest in there. I ran in, gave him the money, wrassled a teensy smile out of Ryker (Alex is in summer camp), and said hi to Katie who was about to toss some food down the baby.

Other errands accomplished. Shaw tried to talk us into getting another DVR box (or something like) and after a chat with the technician we tapped the table.

Fraser Foreshore was absolutely wonderful. In full sun, it was noticeably hot yesterday, but in the shade, by the river, the air was, in Paul’s words, ambrosial. The male of the nesting pair of herons whom we see with almost every trip WOULD NOT SHUT UP. I have heard herons make a range of noises but this one sat on the end of the log boom and HONKED LIKE A GOOSE at the crows. I’m not joking, and I have a witness. Every time the crows moved, he’d honk like a goose in irritation. In ten minutes, that heron made more noise than any heron not in a breeding colony that I’ve ever heard of. We got some Vietnamese food after.

This morning we’re going to do a schlep.

Buster is up and whining at my door. Me: “Wait for Daddy! No door! Daddy will open the door when he gets up!” He refused treats, skritches ALL HE WANTS IS DOOR DOOR NOW DOOR NOW DOOR NAAAAOW

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Lovely phone call with Dave yesterday but I am a BAD FRIEND because when he started to groan about punctuation in his in-the-process-of-being-edited poetry book I started laughing and unfortunately could not stop. I mean, it’s a lovely problem to have AND I COMPLETELY SUPPORT HIS COMMENTS REGARDING SPACES AROUND ELLIPSES, N-DASHES AND M–DASHES. He is correct. HOWEVER it looks like his publisher has a house recipe. Also, he’s now supposed to do a 3-5 minute VIDEO about his book. This is like asking the Groke to give a three to five minute speech about existentialism while juggling lit blowtorches. I have a number of suggestions, which I made to him, and here are more woven in with them.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE. Do everything they ask, but in such a way that it can’t be used.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V. 2 Do everything they ask, but get someone else to do it.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V 3. Do everything they ask while wearing a V for Vendetta mask.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V.4 Do everything they ask but be reading a newspaper while the voice over provides the information.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V.5 Do everything they ask – and let them edit it.

MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE V.6 Do everything they ask – for other books in their catalog

E For Effort v.1 Take videos of his cats and provide a voice over indicating that it would be of societal net benefit if you made a cat video rather than a commercial for your book, which you ‘will just have to take my word is a thoughtfully crafted work of contemporary poetry in English’.

E for Effort v.2. Take Jeff’s videos of the rats scurrying up and down the alley at dawn and intersperse them with a reading from the book (one of the things they wish in the video)

He’s got to the beginning of September.

Image

No errands with Paul yesterday

Didn’t get over to his place so I still owe Keith money. MUST GET THERE TODAY.

Just about blew the Wordle this morning. Only rescued myself going to one of those ‘helper’ sites.

I got a message through reddit this morning. Four months ago I gave medical advice on reddit and this morning somebody messaged me and said THANK YOU FOR THE ADVICE I’M SO GLAD I CHECKED ON REDDIT. So I made one person’s life easier, thank you universe.

Still at 537 words. I intend to BROOD for a while, especially since I got something to do on the ‘romance’ side of things and it will make my mother mad (before the inevitable ‘happy’ ending).

I do like Only Murders in the the Building but yeesh kabobbers when the Martin Short character DOES GO ON he DOES GO ON and I throw my blanket over my head and stick my fingers in my ears.

 

RECORD CORPORATE PROFITS

….. while people on social assistance are being illegally thrown out of their homes.

537 words completed on Part II

The land next to the Parthenon (yeah, *that* Parthenon) is on fire. Greece has money for cops – endless money for cops – but asked for money for 4000 additional firefighters during this climate crisis, the government has said no, and instead shows pictures of cops with watering cans doing ‘everything possible’ as if that will help.

Got some errands done yesterday! Jeff and I had a highly efficient errand run, including banking for both of us and replacement of a broken part. It was nice to get out in the sun. Paul called me when he got back from work but I was already napping (I got up afterward and watched some more TV with Jeff but I was pretty much done for the day.)

Ran the dishes and a load of laundry.

Women in the US are now saying DECLINE TO ANSWER when asked the date of their last menstrual period.

Today I’m hoping to get some more errands done with Paul, plus a walk. It promises to be a lovely day with a high of 25.

 

Kaossilator ip ip ip

  • Brief walk and lovely sit in the sunshine with Paul. He had a good time on the Island and Jim being in better shape really put the heart back into him. Paul’s at his volunteer job today.
  • Dragged him into the music room and made him listen to what the Kaossilator sounds like when the battery is dying
  • HEY pOp RYERSON CHANGED ITS NAME TO Toronto Metropolitan University. Given that he was a colonizer who thought Indigenous people are scum I’m cool with that.
  • MUST go to the bank today, I still haven’t paid Keith back.
  • Otto back tomorrow or the day after, that’s good.
  • President Biden is apparently going to declare a climate emergency. Don’t be too happy; those parts that are useful will be turned into money making opportunities for big Democrat donors and when the next president is a Republican it will all be swept away anyway
  • The gay mayor of a town in Oklahoma has been assaulted and frightened so much that after five years of service as Councilman and Mayor he’s resigning. I spend a lot of time in fanfic talking about states where you can’t be out in public and Kansas and Oklahoma are definitely two places where it’s as much as your life is worth to be openly gay, especially outside of places like Lawrence.
  • The entire world with the exception of New Zealand and parts of China is wandering into the seventh wave like a bunch of fools. ERs are crashing and apart from the people who visit them and work at them nobody cares.
  • Despite a century of doctors and health care professionals wearing masks, the far right and the ignorant are still claiming that wearing a mask makes for ‘too much CO2, you’ll choke.’ Showing them pictures of your pulseox before and after masks is ‘fake news.’ Now I’m not saying people deserve to die, but some will die, with belief systems like that. And it will be the young, the elderly and the disabled who pay most dearly, just like fucking usual.
  • I predict that people between forty and eighty will just ‘start dropping dead’ as the effects of multiple undiagnosed COVID infections spread out through the population. Since these deaths won’t get added to the COVID total (no active COVID infection??? CAN’T be COVID!!), the ignorant will claim that it’s the ‘stress of lockdown when it was unnecessary’, ‘drugs’, ‘chemtrails’, ‘the heat’ and ‘the government’ that’s causing these unusual deaths.
  • If you don’t have a will please make one. I have a will, it’s out of date. After all, I no longer have any assets except my intellectual property, which is LOLOLOL completely worthless except to about 3 people. But I still have to change the will so the intellectual property is specifically called out.
  • Apparently the CME is pretty much missing us but check for nice aurorae tonight in western Canada if skies are clear.
  • Don’t blame me, the wordle of the day is ‘angry’
  • 393 words on Part II